What happens when you take the most polarizing contestants from your favorite reality shows, throw them into a glamorous villa and encourage them to fall in love with the help of private suites? It’s simple: A whole lot of drama.
That’s the premise of Perfect Match, the newest dating show that mixes contestants from Too Hot to Handle, Love Is Blind, The Circle and more in the hopes they find their perfect summer romance. And, with the title of “Perfect Match” (and a mysterious prize) at stake, these couples must find their soulmates quickly — especially since surprise singles are arriving to split up even the strongest of pairs. Here’s everything you need to know before the villa opens its doors on Feb. 14.
In honor of the season of love, these singles will be finding their Perfect Match starting this Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, with new episodes dropping each week through Feb. 28.
Get a sneak peek of who's in it for love and who's in it to win it in the trailer above.
Ex-boy bander and romance expert Nick Lachey, who previously hosted Love Is Blind and The Ultimatum: Marry Or Move On with wife Vanessa, will be playing Cupid to these sexy singles.
Twenty-three cast members have been announced from across the Netflix reality spectrum. From the dating show side, known Too Hot to Handle rule-breaker Francesca Farago will be joined by ex-Love Is Blind podder Shayne Jansen, former Sexy Beasts panda Kariselle Snow and The Ultimatum’s Zay Wilson. Renowned players from The Circle and The Mole are also looking for love, including Joey Sasso, Nick Uhlenhuth, Savannah Palacio, Ines Tazi and Dom Gabriel. Finally, Selling Tampa’s Anne-Sophie Petit-Frère is seeking a partner in love and business.
Perfect Match creator Chris Coelen (who, by the way, also made reality faves Love Is Blind and The Ultimatum) tells Tudum he thought of the concept after Francesca turned up on LIB's After the Altar Season 1 with Damian Powers.
"It became very apparent that different cast members from different shows ultimately end up knowing each other," he explains. "They go to events together and they connect and they date, honestly. The idea was rooted in that real thing."
Click to read about all the singles that make up the Perfect Match cast.
The show is filmed at a luxury villa in Panama. Want a behind-the-scenes peek? Let Francesca and Too Hot to Handle's Chloe Veitch take you on a tour.
Each night, the contestants must pair up amongst themselves to share a private suite in a fancy villa. Then, couples will compete against other couples in compatibility challenges, where the winners will receive the ability to control which new singles enter the house and who they go on dates with (plus, the winning couple gets to go on an extra-special date for themselves). Once the new singles enter the house, the participants must again decide who their Perfect Match is. Anyone left alone at the end of the night is eliminated — Coelen compares it to a game of sexy musical chairs.
But this twist — in which contestants get to choose who enters the villa — makes the series different from similar dating shows, the creator says, because it "gives the participants control" of their circumstances.
"The producers aren't steering the ship," he says. "If the participants choose to bring these people in or match 'em up with whoever, it's totally up to them. That's much more real, and it's much more fun for them." Because of that element of choice, Perfect Match is also a competition — meaning that contestants can use their new-found powers to break other couples up, create fun strategies or even bring in a better match for themselves. That won’t be dramatic at all, right?
The contestants themselves will decide who among them is truly meant to be. But, according to Coelen, there's no one definition of "perfect match."
"Having a perfect match can mean they make a great summer fling, or it might mean that it's someone that they actually want to spend my life with," he says. "It really depends on what they're looking for at that moment. Perfect Match is a show that really bends to the whims of the participants and allows them to make it what they want."
